Near But Far Away
by DEVILZ CHIK
Summary: Staring at her is all he does. He wishes everything to be back to normal and he hopes that she thinks about him too. Hostaged inside the school, the two try to bridge the gap between, only to fail miserably. SS
1. Stupid, stupid people

**Near But Far Away  
**By: DEVILZ CHIK

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**Summary: **Staring at her is all he does. He wishes everything to be back to normal and he hopes that she thinks about him too. Hostaged inside the school, the two try to bridge the gap between them, only to fail miserably. SS  
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**Chapter 1: Stupid, stupid people

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Syaoran glanced from his lunch to the counter to see the girl buying bottled water. She was with a friend of hers, Tomoyo. What would the world be with the two of them separated? As usual, a smile was on her face.

What could they have been possibly talking about that she couldn't stop smiling and looking interested?

He saw her open her wallet and take out a bill that she handed to the canteen lady. From where he was sitting, he caught a glimpse of her yearbook picture last year in her wallet. Pfft, it was her most infamous fake smile.

You should not blame him for stating a bold statement because he fairly well tell if her smile was fake or not – due to his hobby of watching her at school everyday.

It's not that he's a stalker – he's not like that at all.

He merely watches her just for the heck of it and because of the fact that he refuses to let go. He wants to hold on to her forever even though she doesn't do the same thing for him.

Since she had let go of him completely, the moment she decided to do it.

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"_Many things changed. And I don't think anything will work out. Don't take this the wrong way, okay? I still like you – it's just… I think we shouldn't be together anymore."_

It had been three months and six days since that day. It was late afternoon and they accidentally met by the lake. Both of them did not expect to see the other there. Although they were close and honest to each other when they were in a relationship, they never shared to each other their 'secret place'.

Their greeting was awkward. Syaoran remembered giving Sakura a quick hug before they quietly sat down on the grass.

The awkwardness did not stop there. It stayed with them for another thirty minutes or so and both of them were so lost in their own train of thoughts so they did not bother to end the tension.

While sitting there with her, he knew it was coming. He knew that they were slipping away from each other and it was only a matter of time that one of them would speak up about it. He had to admit things were much simpler when they were not officially together.

It was so much simpler when he was just a friend of hers who texts her every night, talks to her all the time and chats with her online every day.

Things were better that way but no, he had to ask to her to be his girlfriend. He just had to. He was scared at first that she would say no but she agreed. She said yes and they were almost living happily ever after.

But other suitors had to be in the way. She was too nice to flat out tell those not-so-discreet guys to stay away from her. She also did not welcome the idea of him dealing with them his way.

He became jealous every day as guys approach her. When she frowned at him for displaying his over-protectiveness, he decided to give her some space. Enough space so she would not think that he was choking but this just became the opportunity for those big-headed guys to talk to her some more.

It was not as if their relationship was a secret. Those guys were just challenging him – testing his patience.

And after a while, he just lost his last strand of patience. He became a little too possessive.

He checks on her more than her own brother does and tells her who to talk to and not talk to.

It came to a point where they would fight by the end of the day and not speak to each other for almost a week until one of them gives up and apologizes.

However, their relationship never came back to normal. Syaoran was always on edge when he was not with Sakura. And Sakura felt that her free will was suddenly taken away from her.

And that was why _things changed. _They could not be together anymore since nothing could no longer work out between them.

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They tried to stay away from each other as much as possible because they knew how uncomfortable that would be for the two of them. They did not exactly end their relationship in good terms since after Sakura had said that they should not be together anymore, Syaoran just nodded and let her walk off. 

But being in the same school kept them close and having the same friends required them to be with each other in most weekends. In those weekends though, they never let their friends to leave them alone, not even for a while.

The bell rang marking the end of lunchtime. Syaoran walked to his class alone since none of his guy friends shared it with him. Sakura was his only 'friend' in that class.

Usually, he would sit behind Sakura or beside her but after their break-up, he settled on the seat on the other side of the room where she was located. Ironically enough, when the news had gone out that they were no longer together, none of her suitors approached her again.

He watched Sakura as she laid her head down on the table when after ten minutes, their teacher still had not showed up.

"Five more minutes and it will be a walk!" one of their classmates shouted. Everyone else jeered with him, except for Sakura who tiredly placed her crossed arms on the table, laying her head above it.

Syaoran smirked – she was planning to fall asleep already.

The commotion in the room was unstoppable. Few were writing uncontrollably on the board. Some guys were showing off dance moves. The girls started gossiping. Some were falling asleep like Sakura while Syaoran remained suspicious as to why their teacher was not there yet.

He glanced outside the door and some of the students from the other rooms had already gone out. His classmates saw this so they, too, went out of the class one by one.

Syaoran just stared at them disbelievingly but he did not stop them. One of the guys told him to leave as well but he chose to remain inside the room since he noticed that one certain girl had also not made a move to go out.

A girl from her cheerleading team tried to wake her up but Sakura just grunted and moved to a more comfortable position. The girl shrugged at his direction.

"I'll just call Tomoyo and the others, alright?" she told him and he nodded in reply.

Sakura and Syaoran were left alone in the room as soon as the girl stepped out. And although one of them was clearly sleeping, the atmosphere around them was too thick with tension.

Maybe two to three minutes after, Syaoran, still watching her, saw Sakura slowly stir from her short slumber. He assessed the situation and quickly calculated the fastest time it would take for him to leave the room before Sakura fully raise her head. But he ran out of time.

"Where did everyone go?" she asked him quietly, rubbing her eyes.

Syaoran was stunned for a moment, not believing that they were actually going to have a normal conversation. Their conversations usually composed of: "what's up?", "I'm tired", "Had lots of homework" and "See you."

"Sensei didn't show up," he finally replied. "It's been eighteen minutes already. Everyone left."

Sakura stretched out her arms and nodded in understanding. She then turned towards him and asked, "how come you didn't leave?"

"Your friend said she's just going to call Tomoyo and the others," Syaoran explained. "You weren't waking up and she didn't want you to be alone here," he paused. "And I didn't want to leave you here alone as well."

Sakura remained quiet afterwards and rested her left cheek on her left palm. She was staring at the board and was smiling as she read the things that her classmates wrote there. She also recognized the lyrics written there.

It was a song Syaoran introduced to her days after they started dating. She never thought that Syaoran was into that kind of music but it greatly touched her when he said that the song reminded him of her.

She absent-mindedly turned towards Syaoran. She then realized that he had been watching her all along and all of a sudden, she started feeling conscious about what she had been doing for the past few minutes. Did she look stupid just staring off into space?

She hoped not.

The uncomfortable silence rubbed on them as they cradled it inside the room. Sakura had looked away from him again and he also did the same (since he did not want to creep out Sakura).

There was nothing to talk about. They practically see each other everyday. Both knew none of them was seeing anyone else yet. It was only the first class after lunchtime. There was nothing juicy to talk about.

Suddenly, from outside, a glass shattered and panic initially went to Sakura. Where did that come from? It sounded like a window had been broken. Did someone jump off?

Syaoran immediately stood up and approached Sakura. She felt safer with him closer now. He stood in front of her protectively and took out his phone in an instant.

He dialed Eriol's number but soon stopped trying when his friend did not pick up. Sakura tried calling Tomoyo afterwards and was relieved when her best friend answered it.

"Sakura, where are you?" came Tomoyo's worried voice.

"History classroom, where are you?" Sakura asked, confused as to why Tomoyo's background was noisy.

"_You're still inside the school?!" _Tomoyo shrieked. "Sakura, get out of there _now_! The teachers are all being held hostage in the faculty tower!"

All color from Sakura's face drained out. Syaoran managed to catch Tomoyo's words and when Sakura did not reply back, he gently snatched the phone from Sakura's hand to talk to Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo, it's Li," he said through the phone. "We're going out now. Are we the only students here?"

"I'm not sure," came Tomoyo's shaky voice. "I'm with my homeroom right now outside of school. The police are still taking attendance – they haven't announced yet who's not here," she paused. "Li, take care of Sakura!"

"I will," with that, he hung up and faced Sakura with concern.

"Are we going to be okay?" Sakura whispered, looking up at him with teary eyes.

"Of course," Syaoran said but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself as well. "Come on, let's go. The faculty tower is far from here but we should still be quiet."

Syaoran went back to his seat to pick up his bag and Sakura silently stood up from her seat and went for the door. She waited for Syaoran though and made him open the door first. The coast was clear but their footsteps were echoing throughout the hallways.

Unconsciously, after they had gone down from the third floor, Syaoran held Sakura's hand. Sakura was caught by surprise at the contact but did not let go. When they finally reached the ground floor and were approaching the front doors, they heard voices from behind them from a nearby corridor.

"Loser, did you check everywhere?" a man's voice said. The two teenagers stopped dead in their tracks and looked worriedly at each other.

"Well, clearly someone else is here," another said. "Our gadget picked up a signal."

With that said, Sakura and Syaoran slowly made their way to the nearest room they could find which was the music room. And they were only a few steps to the front door too!

They heard the two men pass the room and walk up the stairs.

Sakura was beginning to softly sob now. She broke down in Syaoran's arms who openly welcomed her. He let her cry on his chest, caressing the back of her head to help her calm down.

"Sshh," Syaoran soothed. "It's going to be okay."

Sakura sniffed and pulled away from the embrace. She forced a smile at Syaoran while wiping the tears off her face.

"I didn't imagine us to end up this way, you know," she said softly and sniffed again. "I mean, I never meant to… Oh god, Syaoran, are we going to die here?"

"No, we're not," Syaoran answered with determination, hating that fact that Sakura was crying. "Let's just wait here for a while."

"I don't want to die yet," Sakura whined.

"You're not going to," Syaoran said patiently.

Sakura still frowned, although she felt a lot better with Syaoran's words. She looked away from him as she could not face him after all she had done to him.

She was very much aware that Syaoran did not take the break-up well. According to Eriol, Syaoran had shut himself in his room when he got home that day and refused to talk to anyone. When he finally did come out, he was ranting like a madman, wishing out loud that he could turn back time to get her back. By the end of the day, he simply threw a glass of water to their kitchen wall, punched his own door (causing his knuckle to bleed) and sighed.

She regretted breaking up with him but she had to do it. They were going nowhere. She thought it was best if they would just stay away from each other for a while but under the given circumstances, they were always forced to be with each other.

Like right now.

"Syaoran," she whispered his name, her voice slightly trembling.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," she slowly looked at him to see his reaction and it was nothing but blank. "I never really meant… I never really meant to break up with you. And it's true what I said back then – I still do like you."

Syaoran's heart was sinking. Invisible strings were pulling his chest downwards to the floor as he feels what Sakura is feeling right now. Fresh tears were welling up in her eyes and Syaoran had to control himself from wiping them away himself.

"I know this isn't probably the best time to tell you this," she continued. "But I just needed to say it."

Silence.

Sakura was still staring at Syaoran who had avoided her eyes now.

"Syaoran," she called his name again with that pleading voice of hers. "Say something."

Syaoran turned to her sharply. His eyes were fixed on her, its intensity slowly melting her.

"What do you want me to say?" Syaoran asked indignantly. Sakura winced at the tone of his voice. "Three months, Sakura. Three months! I've been hung up on you for three months so if you want me to tell you that I still have feelings for you… Well, I do."

Silence again.

If these two teenagers still had feelings for each other, why the hell are they not kissing and making up? Well, you see, it would be because of the big gap they created between them and both of them did not want to take the risk of making it bigger by taking another chance.

Stupid, stupid people.

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_**To be continued...**_


	2. Slowly, slowly dying

**Near But Far Away  
**_By: _DEVILZ CHIK

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**Author's Notes:  
**Thanks for everyone who read. I hope next time those who read will send a review though. Oh well, hits make me happy – alerts and faves as well. I'm on a writing streak today! Here's Chapter 2!

**Disclaimer:  
**_I don't own CCS. _

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**Chapter 2: Slowly, slowly dying**

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If these two teenagers still had feelings for each other, why the hell are they not kissing and making up? Well, you see… it would be because of the big gap they created between them and both of them did not want to take the risk of making it bigger by taking another chance.

Stupid, stupid people.

Sakura did not know whether to be glad or be sad after hearing Syaoran's response. She was hoping he would tell her that but why could she not bring herself to say something back to him? She still had feelings for him as well – why was it so hard to tell him that?

They sat on the floor of the music room. The grand piano near the door was blocking their figures from the door. There were numerous instruments displayed idly in the room. Scores and practice records were neatly placed and piled up on the cabinets near the window.

They both did not take any Music classes that year so they were so familiar with the room. Tomoyo was the regular student in this room from their group.

Maybe another thirty minutes had passed ever since they had hidden there because the bell echoed throughout the school.

Sakura then anxiously looked at Syaoran. He seemed to be deep in thought and she knew it had nothing to do with what he had said earlier.

After the last note of the bell sounded off, a public announcement began. They looked curiously at each other – confused as to who would be announcing something at a time like this.

"_We are well aware that there are still students in the building,_" a harsh voice spoke out. "_We gave you an opportunity to leave the premises but you still stayed. You left us with no choice – we will find you. And if you still do not know… all your teachers are being held hostage in the faculty tower. Soon, you will join them._"

Sakura looked absolutely terrified.

"Do you think there are others aside from us?" she asked him in a whisper, afraid that they would be found.

"I don't know," was all Syaoran could answer.

Sakura was about to say something else but another public announcement signaled its way through the speakers.

"_This is Headmaster Yagami Keiichi_," Sakura and Syaoran both recognized the voice. "_Students who are still in the building, it is best to show yourselves as soon as possible before things can get worse. They will be waiting for you outside the faculty tower until the bell goes._"

The voice sounded so horrified; Sakura and Syaoran could just imagine the headmaster's face.

Less than sixty minutes was all they had to decide whether or not to show themselves to the bad people. The number of the men was unknown to them. Most of all, they were unaware to what extent they would go to get what they were demanding for.

Out of all the places, why was their school chosen to be held up like this?

"Are we going?" Sakura asked him again.

"No, we're staying here," Syaoran replied. "For a while."

Sakura had no idea what Syaoran was planning but she hoped it would help them get out of the place, safe and sound. She also hoped the teachers were all safe.

Syaoran turned towards the window of the music room. They were in the ground floor so they did not need to worry about jumping from a very high place (if worse comes to worst). He looked over and saw the high school field stretched out in front of him.

If they would run across the field, they would reach the outdoor parking lot and would be outside the school walls if they reach the school gates. However, if they run across the field, they would surely be seen from the faculty tower.

He then looked at the only door of the room. They were steps away from the front doors where mostly everyone else had gone out. As soon as they would open those front doors, if they run quickly, they would reach the school gates in no time.

However, they were not sure if there were people watching the hallway. There surely would be since the front doors were one of the exits.

Syaoran knew that the kidnappers were not going to let them go now. They knew that they had made a phone call.

"Syaoran," Sakura called out to him, fear clear in her voice.

He held her gaze and his face softened when he saw how frightened she looked.

"Syaoran," she whispered his name once again. "I'm scared," she whimpered.

She didn't even care if she looked like a lost child in Syaoran's eyes. She was scared and she was a girl – wasn't it normal to feel sensitive in the current situation?

Syaoran moved closer to her.

"I'm here," he said soothingly. He gathered up the courage to hold her hand that was on the floor. "I won't let anything happen to you."

His words sounded nice in her ears but nothing could change the fact that they had a bad history together. Maybe just for a moment, they could savor it and forget everything that had gone wrong with their relationship.

Her grip on his hand tightened and she tugged on it. Syaoran got the point and moved even closer to her, closing the physical gap between. Their shoulders were touching; their backs against the wall. Their legs were stretched out in front of them and their joined hands were resting on the small gap between her left leg and his right leg.

It felt so right.

"Sakura," he said softly but did not look at her. He stared on straight ahead. They did not switch on the lights in the room. The only light they had was the sunlight coming from the window on the other side of the room.

"What is it?"

"If we have no choice, we have to run across the field to the school gates," he explained to her. "No matter what happens, you just run, okay? You keep running, you got that?"

She sunk in his words.

"What do you mean 'no matter what happens'?" she demanded, turning to face him. "So it includes if you fall behind? You want me to leave you?" His expression was telling her that it was what he meant. "I will never leave you!"

"Sakura…" he drawled on. "That way at least one of us gets out of here," he tried to make his point to her but she was not listening.

"No!" she snapped but her voice was still low as to not attract any unwanted attention from outside the room. "If someone would get out of here, it will be the two of us!"

Syaoran only shook his head and decided to drop the matter for the meantime. Sakura was stubborn, indeed.

Minutes ticked by and they waited for the bell to ring. They had only less than twenty minutes now. What would happen if they don't show up? Would the kidnappers hunt for them? Would they search each room?

Sakura and Syaoran sat there, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. Waiting and waiting until finally, the bell rang. They waited until the last note sounded off. Ten to fifteen minutes had passed and yet there was no disturbance around them.

As if they were waiting for the harsh voice again, the signal for a public announcement resonated in their ears.

"_Two students just surrendered to us_," the voice said over the microphone. "_But we still believe that there are still students in the building. We know you made a phone call at 12:36pm today. You really left us with no other choice. We would search for you and if you don't get your ass in here before the last bell goes… Nikamura Ayu would die in front of her teachers._"

Sakura gasped as she heard the last statement made.

"Do you know her?" Syaoran asked her.

"We don't talk," Sakura replied. "I know what she looks like, though – she's a freshman. Syaoran, she's only a freshman – top of her class, too. She would always hang out in the Chemistry classroom…" She stopped babbling and looked at Syaoran. "Do you think they would really kill her?"

Syaoran thought about it for a second. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't even know what their demands are. I don't even know if they have negotiated with the people outside."

Their conversation was stopped short again. Another public announcement was about to be made.

The voice was laughing maniacally as if he had just devised a very evil plan. Well, maybe he did. The two shivered hearing his laughter.

It was deadly scary.

They heard him take a deep breath, stopping himself from laughing. "_Li Syaoran! Kinomoto Sakura!_" the voice paused to laugh again. "_Great names you have, lovely seniors of this school! You see, the police just slipped a tiny little bit of information that you are still here. I am to believe that one of you made the phone call._" He was laughing harder now. "_I also believe that you are together right now… cutest couple last year!_" After that, it seemed that he was not talking straight to the microphone. "_What are you still doing here? Look for them! Start at the first floor of the first building. Work your way from there!_" He turned towards the microphone again. "_See you soon, Li-san, Kinomoto-san_."

They could still hear his laughter even though there was silence once again.

Sakura pushed herself against the wall but she could no longer stay farther away from the door. She had let go of Syaoran's hand while listening to the announcement.

Syaoran clutched her shoulders to calm her down.

"Sakura…"

"They know our names!" Sakura said. She was freaking out and that was the last thing Syaoran wanted to happen. "They know our names, Syaoran! They're searching for us _right now_. They are probably on the other side of the hallway. This is the last room in the hallway. They are just _there_."

She held onto his shirt and was taking sharp intakes of breath.

"_Syaoran_," she cried out helplessly but still not in her normal volume.

"Sakura, stop it!" he shook her shoulders gently. "We're going to be—"

It was too late. They could hear someone shuffling keys outside the door. They could also hear hushed whispers and eager mumblings.

Sakura's eyes held nothing but fear. In a quick instant, Syaoran managed to hide Sakura's body behind a row of double basses near them before two men blasted open the door with their guns held up. It took them a few seconds to discover Syaoran standing by the window, a few meters away where Sakura was hiding.

Sakura certainly did not know what was going on. She wanted to come out of her hiding place but she knew that any abrupt actions could surprise the captors and they might pull the trigger at Syaoran.

One man switched on the lights which immediately illuminated the room. When Syaoran was sure the captors' attention was not fully on him, he glanced where Sakura was and was glad that she could not be seen with the lights on.

"It's him," one man said. "It's the Li kid."

The man sneered at his direction, still studying the room. "The girl should be here," he stated.

While one guy was still searching with his eyes around the room, the other guy spoke to Syaoran, "hand me your phone."

Syaoran took out his phone from his pocket and threw it at the guy who asked for it. With ease, the man caught it. Syaoran was actually hoping he would drop it.

"Last call made was 12:34pm," the man said, after checking Syaoran's phone.

"Where's the girl?" the other man demanded. Syaoran figured out that this guy was more violent than the other. He could also tell that the other guy was the techie – he was probably just there to deal with the gadgets. He looked like he was not built for physical confrontations.

"She's not with me," Syaoran said. He held no other tone in his voice. He answered plainly, as if a robot.

"Liar," the man growled and stepped closer towards him, still a gun pointed at Syaoran's head. "Search the place, Takemoto."

Takemoto put his gun on the case around his belt and walked around the room. He went to the trumpets section first then opened and closed the cabinets. Basically, he was on the other side of the room where Sakura was.

"We know you guys are together," the man said. "You wouldn't be the cutest couple for nothing."

"We broke up," Syaoran blurted out. "Three months ago."

The man laughed at the revelation. "Oh? Why was that?" the man asked, as if interested. "You were too pretty for each other?"

Syaoran decided not to answer.

"You had the same class after lunch," the man continued saying. "A call was made. You were probably told that the school was being hijacked then you two set off to hide here. It was pretty close to the front doors. Too bad you didn't make it, eh?"

Syaoran was merely sending daggers at the man. If he had no gun in his hand, Syaoran could have easily knocked him down.

The Takemoto guy was slowly reaching where Sakura was hiding. Syaoran was clenching his fists tightly, gritting his teeth as he patiently assessed the situation.

"Your girlfriend looked lovely in her yearbook picture," the man taunted. "I mean, your _ex _girlfriend. Say, since you guys are no longer together, you think you can give her to me?"

Syaoran growled and made a move to pounce on the guy but the guy warningly rose up his gun higher.

"Why so angry?" the man continued on. "I thought you already broke up. Why do you still care?"

"You're too old for her," Syaoran said, his eyes seething with hatred.

The man laughed loudly. "Too old? Kid, age doesn't matter," his eyes looked Syaoran from his head to toe. "I wonder how she liked someone like _you_. Ha! Let me guess, _she_ broke up with you, didn't she?" The man smiled in triumph as he knew he was getting on Syaoran's nerves. "Said she could no longer be with you because you _bore_ her."

"Shut up!" Syaoran shouted.

Seriously, if it wasn't for the gun he was holding.

As Syaoran's attention was on the man taunting him, he did not notice that the other guy had reached the place where Sakura was hiding. Everything that happened after that was a flash.

Syaoran saw Takemoto turn around to his partner to tell him that he had found Sakura. Before his sentence could be finished, Syaoran quickly ran where Sakura was.

Sakura was still lying down on the floor. Syaoran's sudden movement to get to her knocked down two double basses. This surprised the man who had a gun out and shot towards where Syaoran was.

Syaoran successfully hugged her in his arms before the bullet was shot at them. Sakura was sure the man had hit one of the instruments. But Syaoran's weight was falling upon her. He was pressing onto her so much.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly pushed him up but his body gave in and fell completely on top of her. His breathing was slowing down, she could feel it.

"Syaoran," she whispered his name but she received no reply from him.

He had lost his consciousness, she realized, and she wondered why. Her hand then landed on his back. That was when she felt blood. She stared at her now bloody hand and let her tears suddenly fall down from her eyes.

She did not even care what the two men were arguing about. She tried to wake Syaoran up again but ended up in vain.

_No, no, no!_

She could not stand this. Syaoran was slowly, slowly dying in her arms.

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**To be continued…**


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